Apocalypse
by FlowerPower1o1
Summary: Eighteen years in the future, the Charmed Ones and their descendents must stop a demonic council from causing the end of the world
1. Prologue - End of the World As We Know I...

Disclaimer. I don't claim to own any of these characters, or the concepts of any of these characters.  
  
Background; It's the year 2020. Piper has three daughters, Melinda (17), Prue (16) and Penelope (13) as well as one son, Erick (14) who inherited Leo's white lighter powers directly. Erick at this time is away with a Spanish class in Barcelona. Phoebe and Cole are back together, Cole has powers. Cole and Phoebe have twins, a son and daughter, Aaron and Katrina (16) Paige was married, but her husband was an Empath and was killed by a warlock. After he died, Paige changed her last name from Matthews to Halliwell. Paige has one daughter, Patty (14), and the basement of the manor was remodeled as an apartment for them (two bedrooms and a bathroom).  
  
Melinda, Prue, and Penelope will be the next Charmed Ones after Piper, Phoebe, and Paige die.  
  
Melinda has the power to Freeze, Combust (blowing things up), Orb and Levitate.  
  
Prue has the power of Premonitions, and she Levitates and Orbs.  
  
Penelope has the power of Telekinesis, Summoning, and Healing.  
  
Erick, like a white lighter, can Orb, Heal, Levitate, Sense his family members and Summon the memory-erasing dust. He also learned martial art from his Aunt Phoebe.  
  
Aaron has the ability to Shimmer, summon an athame and throw plasma balls.  
  
Katrina has the power to Freeze, Levitate and Smoke (Fury teleporting), and learned martial arts from her mother.  
  
Patty has the power of Psychokinesis and Telepathy (from her Empath father)  
  
All the children can cast spells as witches. Melinda, Prue, and Penelope can cast the Power of Three spells.  
  
Darryl was killed by a demon, but was made a white lighter by the Elders.  
  
All that being said, let's get on with things.  
  
  
  
Prologue: The sign of things to come.  
  
  
  
Lightning struck once more, the simultaneous thunder shaking even the stout walls of the Victorian Manor on Prescott Avenue that the extended Halliwell, Wyatt, and Turner families lived. Two teenage girls, studying for their last final exams before summer, looked out the window at the pounding rain.  
  
"Sing it with me," Katrina Halliwell-Turner said sarcastically. " 'It never rains in Southern California…'"  
  
Prue Halliwell-Wyatt laughed. "Wanna go outside and play?"  
  
Katrina grinned wickedly. "I'll raise you." She disappeared in a puff of smoke. Prue laughed again as she orbed outside.  
  
She was immediately tackled by her raven-haired cousin, and the two of them giggled as they wrestled like tomboys in the wet grass of the front lawn, trying their hardest to beat the other as lightning flashed overhead and thunder rumbled.  
  
"Girls!" A sharp voice barked from the doorway, and they turned to see Prue's mother Piper in the doorway with the facial expression the family had come to refer to as "The Look." She had a towel wrapped around her arm. "Do you want to catch pneumonia before your final exam tomorrow? Get back in here, now!"  
  
Both girls, soaking wet by now, picked themselves up and trudged back to the door. Piper pulled both of them inside, closing the door and began drying Katrina's hair with the towel. "Honestly, I don't know what gets into you girls," she chided. She finished drying Katrina off and turned toward Prue, but accidentally tripped on the carpet and stumbled. Prue reached out and grabbed her mother's arm to steady her. Her eyes were filled with those peculiar blue orbs that appeared when she got a premonition, and she gasped involuntarily as the vision struck her. (A/N Blue orbs from the white lighter in her. I don't care if they're called white lighters. Those orbs are BLUE!)  
  
A dark shape emerged from the alley, dropping a cigarette on the ground and smashing it with its heel. The figure, cloaked in a black robe, walked down the street, ignoring the rain pouring around it. A man started walking past the figure, and the figure reached out and grabbed the man by the sides of his head, sucking the life energy from him…  
  
"Prue!" Piper said as the orbs faded from her daughter's eyes. What did you see?  
  
Prue looked her mother in the eyes as another lightning bolt flashed outside. "I think we're in trouble…  
  
  
  
A dark shape emerged from the alley, dropping a cigarette on the ground and smashing it with its heel. The figure, cloaked in a black robe, walked down the street, ignoring the rain pouring around it. A man started walking past the figure.  
  
"Homeless freak," the man muttered.  
  
The figure spun, grabbed each of his ears, and sucked the energy from his body. A smile flickered across its face as it felt the rush of the power through her. In a second, the figure was strong again.  
  
The shadow in the black robe strode to a beat-up black 1987 Dodge Aries, unlocked the door, and started the 33-year-old engine. The radio blared to life, playing an R.E.M. cover by the Suicide Machines on a popular punk rock station.  
  
"It's the end of the world as we know it," the lead singer sang, "and I feel fine!"  
  
The figure smiled, and a soft feminine voice issued from her mouth. "How appropriate."  
  
And with that, the mysterious woman pulled her car out into traffic and drove off into the stormy night. 


	2. Crime of the Scene

Disclaimer; Don't own them. Don't sue me.  
  
A/N – stupid me, I forgot to mention the powers the older sisters have now. Piper can freeze, combust, and rewind time, but only by a few hours at most. Phoebe has premonitions at will, is clairvoyant, can levitate, and has the power to flood the mind with premonitions and visions until the mind figuratively collapses from the weight of the premonitions and kills the person (the electric attack from 'Morality Bites'). Paige can summon, has telekinesis, has the ability to orb, levitate, and heal, and can create psychic barriers with her mind. Cole has the power to fade (the teleport he did at the end of the season finale), the power to translocate (the power he used on Phoebe and Jackman in the season finale), and the power throw fire bolts, summon athames, cause a small cyclone around his body and throw green pentacles (think of an energy ball, only it's green and it's a pentacle). Yeah.  
  
The next day, after school had been let out, the entire family gathered in the attic. It was sort of cramped now, but they managed.  
  
Penelope held her hands over the Book of Shadows, and the pages flipped open to a demon with the power that Prue had seen the night before. "It's called a Lifeleech," the youngest daughter read. "They get their energy from sucking the life out of others. If they suck the life out of demons, warlocks or witches, they inherit their powers as well. They're classified as upper-level demons, but they don't fall in with any of the factions of the underworld. They're more chaotic than anything, and they're actually quite rare."  
  
Aaron chuckled from where he lounged by the windows. He had summoned an athame and was cleaning his fingernails with the tip. "Well if it's so rare, then let's go catch the little dear and pin it to a wall somewhere. Start a collection or something."  
  
"Aaron," Phoebe said.  
  
Paige leaned over Penelope's shoulder and sighed. "There's no vanquishing spell, so I guess we're going to have to get a piece of it's skin."  
  
Aaron jumped to his feet. "That'd be my job, I guess," he said. "I'm the one with the knives."  
  
Phoebe started to object, but Cole reached out and touched her shoulder. Phoebe sighed and nodded. "Take one or two of your cousins with you, and be careful."  
  
Aaron bowed ironically. "It will be as you wish, mother," he said. He looked at Prue and Katrina. "Well, beloved cousin and sister? Wanna come with?"  
  
Katrina grinned. "Sure, sounds like a rockin' good time."  
  
"I think I saw them in the alleys in Chinatown," Prue said. "We should start there." She orbed out, followed by Aaron shimmering out and Katrina smoking out.  
  
Piper clapped her hands. "Okay! I'll get the stuff together for demon vanquishing potion. Melinda, why don't you come help me?"  
  
Melinda, who had been sitting quietly near Paige, got up to follow her mother, but Paige stopped her. "Why doesn't Patty go with you, Piper?" she asked.  
  
Piper raised an eyebrow.  
  
Paige shrugged. "Call it a hunch. I want to see if an old friend has any information, and I may need a witch that can freeze."  
  
Melinda looked at Piper. "Is that okay, Mom?" she asked.  
  
Piper sighed and waved her hand. "Alright, but please be careful."  
  
Paige grinned as she and her niece orbed out. "Aren't we always?"  
  
Leo cleared his throat. "I'll go see what the Elders know about this."  
  
Piper shot him The Look. "Whenever there's work to be done, you always go up there."  
  
"Oops. They're calling me." Leo orbed out.  
  
Piper sighed, laughed, and looked at Patty, Penelope, Phoebe, and Cole. "Let's go make some potion," she said.  
  
Katrina, Prue, and Aaron appeared in a deserted alley in Chinatown. Prue immediately bent and picked up a cigarette butt that had been smashed by a boot. "Well, we're definitely in the right place."  
  
"Definitely," Katrina said, pointing ahead. There was crime scene tape strung up ahead of them, but apparently the cops had finished their work. A chalk outline was sketched on the concrete. "Think you can pick up a premonition from it?"  
  
Prue stepped toward the tape, looked around to see if there was anyone around, then quickly jumped over the tape and knelt next to the outline. She reached out and touched the outline gently, and immediately her eyes were filled with blue orbs.  
  
"Jackpot," Aaron breathed.  
  
Prue said something, but in the midst of the premonition it came out garbled. "What, hun?" Aaron asked.  
  
The orbs faded. "I said 'BEHIND YOU!'" Prue yelled.  
  
Aaron spun, a purple plasma ball flying from his hand and intercepting the energy ball that had been flying towards them. There was a detonation, the ground shook and dirt sprayed from the concrete. "Katrina!" he said.  
  
Katrina put her hand out, and the demon that threw the energy ball was surrounded by smoke for a second before freezing. "Well, we're definitely in the right place," she said.  
  
"We established that already," Aaron reminded her, summoning two athames into his hands with two puffs of black smoke.  
  
Prue stepped out of the circle and walked next to Katrina as Aaron approached the demon with his athames drawn. Just before he reached the demon, the demon broke the freeze and backhanded Aaron into Katrina and Prue, knocking them all to the ground.  
  
Then the demon shimmered out, and when he shimmered back in, there were six more identical demons, three flanking him on either side. Each demon smirked the exact same smirk and spoke the exact same words. "Time to die, witches."  
  
A volley of energy balls was flung at the three witches standing near the crime scene, and Prue screamed in panic.  
  
  
  
In one of those rare flashes of coincidence, Paige and Melinda were only a few blocks away, talking to the cashier, an old friend who knew the secret of the Charmed Ones, at the herb markets where Piper bought herbs for her potions, when Prue screamed. Melinda simultaneously had one of those moments of white lighter clarity, like her father had with his charges. "Prue's in trouble!" she said. Melinda and Paige orbed to the alley.  
  
"Energy balls!" Paige yelled. The intercepted energy balls orbed out in midair, orbed back in at the exact same location, and flew back toward the demonic line. The six copies were struck with the energy balls and were vanquished; the original caught the energy ball heading for him. He laughed. "Always thinking you have the answers," he laughed.  
  
Melinda threw her hands out, and orbs rose from the surface of everything in the alley as time froze. The demon simply laughed. "He didn't freeze!" Melinda said. "Why didn't he freeze?"  
  
The demon laughed one more time. "I am Ohler," he smirked. "And I am the messenger of a higher power. Welcome the Unholy Council to San Francisco, and then wait, for we will surely destroy the world before we are done." Then the demon glowed and shimmered out. 


	3. The Unholy Tome

Disclaimer. I don't own them, yada yada yada, don't sue me. A/N I got the idea for orbs covering Prue's eyes and orbs rising from everything Melinda freezes from Paige's Summoning power. The white lighter side of the witches sort of 'corrupts' their powers, altering the way they are presented. This is obvious to the storyline if you look at Prue's (Shannen Doherty) telekinetic power and Paige's telekinetic power. Similarly, the white lighter in Melinda and Prue alters their power. See?  
  
"Unholy Council? Are you sure that's what they said?" Leo asked his daughters intently. Melinda and Prue both nodded. "That's exactly what he said, daddy," Prue said. "And they were going to end the world." "Try to end the world," Cole muttered darkly from across the room. 'The room' was the kitchen; Melinda, Prue, Katrina and Aaron sat at the table, Leo, Piper, Phoebe and Paige stood around the table, and Cole was leaning against the wall behind Phoebe. Penelope and Patty were still working on the vanquishing potion. "Is there anything about the Unholy Council in the Book of Shadows?" Aaron asked. "Might as well get with the research now, while, you know, the WORLD IS STILL HERE?" "Book of Shadows," Paige called. The book orbed on the center of the table, the pages already flipping wildly. It landed on a page which, unlike the rest of the pages, was black and was written on with multicolored ink. " 'The Unholy Council'," Melinda read. " 'Eight demons, led by an ancient powerful lifeleech sorceress, have forever interfered with the natural course of evil in the mortal universe.'" "I thought that was the Source's job?" Katrina said. Prue leaned over and read over Melinda's shoulder. "It says that the Source refused to traffic magics as dark as that which the Unholy Council practiced." Groans went up around the table. "Wait, hold on," Melinda said. "There's something there." She pointed at the center of the sheet. "Where?" Piper leaned over and stared at the page. "I don't see anything." "I think it's a spell," Melinda said slowly. She squinted as if she were trying to see something miles away, and haltingly chanted a spell apparently unseen by the others; "Unholy are they who threaten all, Harken yet to the spellbinding call One book enough is not alone Reveal to us the Unholy Tome." There was a sudden explosion from the book, and another book similar to the Book of Shadows seemed to fly from the page. Everyone jumped back in alarm as the black leather-bound book landed in Melinda's lap. Whereas there was a triquatra inscribed on the cover of the Book of Shadows, this book had a pentagram, with the pinnacle point aiming down, inscribed in red on the cover. Melinda, who was a giant bookworm, immediately flipped the pages open. "It's everything we need to know on the Unholy Council!" she said excitedly. "One of our ancestors must have put it in the Book a long time ago." Cole leaned over and looked at the book with interest. "Those pages are made of human skin," he noted clinically. Melinda instantly stopped, held her hands out, and let the pages drop. "I hate this family," she muttered as she ran to the sink and began scrubbing her hands. "Don't be a baby," Aaron said, taking her place. He flipped another page. "Here's the page on Ohler," he said. " 'Once an upper-level demon and a favorite of the Source, Ohler was converted by the Mistress of the Council and given enormous power. He has the power to duplicate his being, and is immune to any sort of magical attack. Potions, vanquishing spells, and magical attacks don't work on him.'" The young witch grumbled. "I guess that means my athames won't work on him." Phoebe and Prue jumped suddenly as they both had a premonition. Prue's eyes were covered with little blue orbs for a second or so, and then the two witches straightened and looked at each other. "What did you see?" Cole asked. Phoebe looked at Cole. "We saw the end of the world."  
  
  
  
Ohler shimmered back into the Council Chamber. The woman in the black robe looked at him. "The witches know we're here, I take it?" Ohler nodded. "Good." The woman looked at the other members of the Council. Ohler took his place at her right hand. Beyond him was a Fury dressed in scarlet tatters, a vampire dressed in a black and purple tuxedo and purple half-cape, and a Gorgon woman with snakes for hair. On her left side was a tall bald man with three eyes, a warlock in black robes, a fallen angel with a shaved head, a pale expression, and scars where her wings used to be, and a black shadow. "We have assembled," the woman began, "for the first time in three centuries in this mortal realm, because of the glorious prophecy which has hailed the end of the world. In two days, it will have been exactly one hundred and sixty-nine years since the alignment of the full moon in the Gate of Darkness. The unholy century, thirteen years times thirteen years, has been counting slowly since that decadent day. Now, at last, the day has come, and as this world ends, we will be granted power beyond our wildest imagination! We will be able to forever cross the gap between this meager universe and cross into a greater multiverse!" She stopped and smiled coldly. "The Days of Preparation have begun. All that needs to be done is to leave the Charmed Ones out of our plans." She raised her arms and fires leapt up around the chamber. "And the world will be ours!" The Council Members stood and raised their arms in supplication. "All hail."  
  
  
  
". 'Antigone,'" Katrina read. "She was named for the sister and daughter of Oedipus in the Sophocles drama because of the way she ascended to become a lifeleech. Instead of selling her soul, she sold the souls of her family, and drank their blood to prove it." She wrinkled her nose. "The symbolism of drawing others' life into her was what transformed her into a lifeleech in the first place." "You know," Paige said from where she sat at the kitchen table with her head in her arms, "this is the first time we've dealt with apocalyptic disaster first hand. Somehow, I think I could live and not do this ever again." Phoebe shook her head. "The premonition was horrible, Paige," she said. "No explosions, but waves of energy sweeping the world, sucking the power from every living thing and giving it to Antigone and the Council. The oceans will be dry, the land will be barren, and not even an insect will crawl the earth when they're done." "I saw the beginning," Prue said. "A full moon was framed by a ring of stars, and darkness slowly melted across the surface." She shuddered. "It felt. wrong." "Bingo!" Katrina said. "I found what Prue saw. Cliff note version, there was an eclipse a really long time ago, which brought the Council together. A Dark Prophet came to them and said that in one hundred and sixty-nine years, they could end the world if." she stopped. "Oh. They have to sacrifice five female descendents of Melinda Warren. Apparently, Melinda fought Antigone and beat her, and the Dark Prophet foresaw the power in the line." Piper, Phoebe and Paige looked at their children. Five female children. "I don't think that's all the Dark Prophet foresaw," Piper said.  
  
Yeah, I know it sounds sort of dumb, but the next chapter is where my fanfic comes in handy. The new big bad in the Underworld offers an alliance to protect the world, Phoebe has to remember a spell from the Grimoire, and the sisters need to resurrect Arhama. Patience, grasshopper. All will be made clear in time. 


	4. Witchnapped!

Disclaimer; if you don't know what I'm about to say right now, you should be hit in the head with a brick.  
  
June 10, 2020 12:02 AM 1 day, 23 hours, 58 minutes until the apocalypse  
  
None in the manor slept soundly that night. Of course, that could have something to do with the three-eyed Council Member flaming into Phoebe and Cole's bedroom, catching them in THE ACT. "Phoebe!" Cole, who was on the bottom, yelled, throwing a glowing green pentacle at the demon. The demon was hit with the pentacle and slammed against the wall. Phoebe leapt through the air, levitating, and put her hands on either side of the demon's head, filling his mind with premonitions. Instead of screaming in pain, the demon let out an ecstatic moan. "Woah, head rush," he chuckled. The eye in the middle of his forehead blinked, and Phoebe was thrown across the room. "You won't be able to stop me like that, witch. I'm a freaking psychic." That was when Aaron shimmered in, driving an athame through the demon's chest. "Take that, you three eyed freak," the teenager snarled. "Aaron!" Cole said, jumping out of the bed and simultaneously pulling on his pajama trousers. "Magic attacks don't work on the Council Demons!" Aaron stepped back for a second. "Oh yeah." The demon backhanded him, and Aaron spun to the floor unconscious. "Chill, parents," the demon said, his third eye blinking. Phoebe and Cole were immediately contained in a shimmering bubble of force, looking on helplessly as the demon picked up the unconscious Aaron and flamed out.  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, just down the hall, strange things were afoot in the bedroom that Melinda, Prue, and Penelope shared. "The Power of Three will set us free, the Power of Three will set us free." the three sisters chanted over and over again to the warlock from the Council Chamber. The warlock, imprisoned within a cyclone of pure magical force, simply laughed. "This is really pathetic, I was expecting a challenge." The warlock raised one hand, and the cyclone shattered, throwing the girls across the room. That was when Piper burst in the room, throwing her hands out. The warlock's outer black robe combusted, revealing black trousers and a tight black tank top, but the warlock himself was unharmed. "This entire family is weak," he snarled. He snapped his fingers, and a blade appeared in midair and flew into Piper's stomach. Piper looked down at the blade in shock, then slowly fell over. "Mom!" Melinda screamed. The warlock waved his hand at the teenage Charmed Ones, and they all fell asleep. Then the warlock strode over to them, grabbed them all, and blinked out with them. At that exact moment, Leo burst into the room, yelled in surprise, pulled the blade out of his wife's abdomen, and healed her. As the Healing took to her body, Piper's eyes fluttered open. "Gone." she whispered.  
  
Downstairs, in the basement, Paige and Patty were having a little bit of trouble with the Gorgon woman. Like the Medusa of the legends, she was changing everything she looked at to stone. Fortunately, Paige noticed, the change was only temporary, lasting a couple of minutes before returning to its proper state. "Stone!" the Gorgon rasped, the blazing green rays firing from her eyes again. Patty closed her eyes, and a pillow blinked in front of her, intercepting the rays. The heavy stone object it had become crashed to the floor, shattering. The Gorgon tried the same thing on Paige, but Paige intercepted it with a rippling barrier created by her mind. The Gorgon acted quickly then, spinning and throwing a cloud of dust in Patty's face. She sneezed once, then collapsed. "No!" Paige yelled, letting her barrier drop. The Gorgon glanced at her, and the green rays emitting from her eyes turned the Charmed One to stone. The Gorgon knelt by Patty, pulled her into her lap, then shimmered out.  
  
Katrina was having problems with the Fury from the Council Chamber. She had been in the attic, reading the Unholy Tome, when the Fury had smoked in. They did not resort to the use of their powers, but were instead locked in a physical fight that would end only when the other could not move. Katrina fired a fast roundhouse kick at the Fury's side, but the Fury grabbed her ankle and flipped her on her back. Katrina scissored her legs out and swiped the Fury off of her feet, then kicked out, striking her across the face. Then the young witch flipped and landed on her feet, flinging out her hands to freeze the Fury. The demonic woman on the ground stopped moving. Satisfied, Katrina turned around to call out to her mother when the smoke of a Fury suddenly surrounded her. With a cry, Katrina realized she had not actually froze the Fury, and it had tricked her. By the time this processed in her head, however, she was unconscious, and Piper and Phoebe arrived in the attic just in time to see the Fury smoke out with Katrina in her arms.  
  
  
  
1:32 AM Melinda was the last one to wake up. She took in her surroundings as she awakened. She, her sisters, and her female cousins were chained at each point of a blood-red pentacle painted on the floor. Aaron was chained to the center. "Melinda!" Penelope said with relief. The oldest witch shook her head. "Where are we?" "The Council brought us here," Aaron said from the center of the room. "We're going to be the sacrifices for the end of the world. Hurray." "No problem," Melinda said. "I'll just orb back to the manor and come back with the cavalry." She closed her eyes and tried to orb, and the manacles around her wrists glowed, sending an electrical shock through her body. "We tried that already, Mel," Katrina said. "The chains are enchanted. I can't smoke, Aaron can't shimmer, and you and Prue can't orb. Any kind of magic worked on the chains by us won't work, but we can still use our other powers. Not that they work on the Council Members or anything. "Quite right," a voice said. The lifeleech from Prue's premonition came in with a teleport that was a strange parody of a white lighter's orb, made up of red light. Prue's eyes went flat. "Antigone," she growled. The lifeleech put her hand on her chest. "I'm flattered that I am so greatly known," she said mockingly. She looked at the imprisoned witches. "Welcome to the Council Chamber," she said. "We're going to take care of you. Not out of any sort of love, you understand, but if you aren't your strongest two days hence, then the spell won't work. I'm sure you understand. So breathe a sigh of relief, witches. You're alive, for now." She held out her hand, and a cluster of red orbs appeared around each of the witches. "I didn't say I would make it comfortable, though. These fire- orbs will keep you imprisoned, and if any of you try to escape." she smirked. "Well, they ain't called fire-orbs for nothing."  
  
  
  
Piper entered the attic. "I just got off the phone with Erick," she said. "He's going to get away from his class the first moment he can and orb here. He's worried about his sisters." Phoebe, Paige, Leo, and Cole were clustered around the Unholy Tome, reading about the Council Members, and Piper joined them. "The one you saw is named Triclops, Phoebe," Paige said bleakly. "He's a psychic demon with the powers of telekinesis, telepathy, flaming, fireballs and throwing lightning." She flipped a couple more pages. "This one is Demonia," she said, pointing at a picture of a Gorgon. "One of the offspring of the original Medusa. She has the power to turn things to stone temporarily, and shimmer. And those snakes on her head are venomous, so you don't want to get too close." "What about the warlock you saw, Piper?" Phoebe said softly. Piper flipped a couple more pages. "Azmir," she said. "Thief of powers. His known powers are throwing lightning, blinking, summoning fireballs, resurrecting the dead and causing powerful wind storms, but it says he has many more that are unknown." She looked at her stomach. "Add 'summoning blades' to that list." Phoebe looked at the opposite page. "And that Fury's name is Proplexa," she read. "Often called the Patron Demon of Ill Fate, her presence often bring bad luck to witches and mortals. She has all the basic Fury powers - summoning smoke clouds, killing evil mortals with her smoke, smoke teleporting - and she throws energy balls and summons arrows as well." Paige, her face streaked from crying, looked at Leo. "Can you sense her - them?" she asked. Leo shook his head. "Wherever they are, the Council took them out of this reality," he said. "Their Council Chamber must be a small alternate dimension somewhere in the city." Phoebe suddenly reeled as a vision took her. "My Queen," the voice said. "We must speak with you and your family. When we enter, do not vanquish us, deal?" As Phoebe awoke from the vision, five demons, dressed in robes of red, shimmered in. They were three men and two women, each with olive-toned skin, long black hair, and completely white eyes. The demons dropped to one knee in front of the Charmed Ones. "Wait!" Phoebe told Piper as the oldest sister put up her hands to combust them. "What do you want?" she asked the demons. The demon in the center of the line looked up. "An alliance, my Queen," he said.  
  
  
  
God, how I love cliffhangers. 


	5. Demons with cars?

Disclaimer, I don't own them. With the fanatical way that I watch the show, it's probably the other way around. A/N. Here's something funny. While I was writing this, I completely forgot about Erick, so I had to go back to the other chapters and write him in as being in Spain. He makes his grand appearance in this chapter. I tend to forget stuff a lot.  
  
June 10, 2020 2:17 AM 1 day, 21 hours, 43 minutes until the apocalypse  
  
  
  
"Okay kids, you have ten seconds to answer all the questions we have and then." Piper trailed off and raised her hand, and the door of a cabinet exploded. "Why did you call Phoebe the Queen?" The center demon bowed. "As you command," he purred. His white eyes looked at Phoebe. "Since you were never formally vanquished, your crown as the Queen of the Underworld is still held as valid in the eyes of some in the demonic world - even though the Source was vanquished." Phoebe nodded. "And that has what to do with an alliance?" "We do not wish for the Council to succeed," the two female demons said together. "It has always been the purpose of our factions to rule the world, not to destroy it." "Because that's so much better," Paige muttered. "Okay, so you offer an alliance to us," Cole said. "How do we know that you're not just setting us up for a trap?" "We like this world," the center demon said. "Our world exists alongside yours. If Antigone was to destroy this world, our world may not survive. Is that not enough reason to work alongside each other?" "So this is a call for truce?" Phoebe said. "Temporary truce," the demon said. "We assist you until we rescue your offspring and stop the Council, and then we return to the Underworld. We know how to find their hidden Council Chamber - we don't know where it is now, but we can find it. It can only be sensed through demonic magic. You need our help." "Who are you?" Leo said. "We are called Los Cinco Maestros," the two females said. "The Five Masters. We serve as an intermediary for the Underworld, to make sure the factions don't destroy each other in civil war. Our truce is genuine, but you must choose to accept it." "I say we do it," Phoebe said. "Are you nuts?" Piper exclaimed. She gestured at them wildly (the middle demon flinched.) "Demons!" She pointed at their group. "Witches!" Cole and Leo both raised their hands. "White lighter. Half-Demon." "Whatever!" Piper snapped. "Think about it Piper!" Phoebe said. "Even with the Unholy Tome, our information on the Council is limited. We have no clue where to find them." "And they have our children," Paige said softly. "There is something to what they say," Cole mused. "They can't vanquish the Council without help, and neither can we. And the Underworld is linked to this world, so their world would be destroyed also. They were telling the truth about that." Leo nodded. "Four in favor, one opposed." He hugged his wife. "It's the only way." Piper grumbled something, and finally shrugged. "Okay!" The middle demon said, clapping his hands. He waved his hands at the other four demons, and they shimmered out. "They are returning to make sure the factions don't get out of hand, and get help." He paced in front of the witches. "Now, there is one demon that knows the mind of the right- hand demon of Antigone, Ohler. Ohler is second-in-command of the Council, and he's the one that creates the barriers that keep the chambers cloaked. We must summon him." "Okay," Piper said. "What's his name?" "Arhama." Phoebe groaned. "We vanquished him a long time ago," she said. "He was my bodyguard when Cole was the Source and I was his Queen." "Then we'll have to resurrect him," the demon said. "Um, no," Paige said. "The only resurrection spells were in the Grimoire, and we're pretty sure that was buried in a rockslide in the Andes Mountains back in 2013. That was dark magic, anyway. It would never react to that." Piper cleared her throat. "Actually. there's another way." Phoebe and Paige looked at her. "On our anniversary of being the Charmed Ones for a year," Piper began, "a demon set up an alternate dimension inside the house and stole the Book of Shadows. He started reading the vanquishing spells of demons backwards, and that resurrected them. My ex-boyfriend Jeremy came back, and so did that warlock Nicholas, and the Woogie - wait, what was that thing's name? Oh well. But if it worked for that demon, it could work for us." Leo shrugged. "It's worth a try."  
  
  
  
7:30 AM The Halliwell children had given up trying to escape and were sitting finally in their places, staring at nothing, when the black 1987 Dodge Aries shimmered in and Antigone got out. "Demons with cars," Melinda said coldly. "That's new." "Breakfast, kids!" Antigone said cheerfully, getting out of the car with a big bag of McDonald's in her hand. She started passing out sausage egg and cheese biscuits to everyone. Melinda looked at the sausage breakfast sandwich in her lap, then up at Antigone. "I'm a vegetarian," she said. Antigone grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, snarling in her face. "Eat the sandwich, and be glad I give you anything at all," she growled. "Otherwise, you starve." The lifeleech fire-orbed out; her car shimmered after her, as if it had a mind of its own. "Well, at least she got us food," Penelope said, eating her sandwich. "Maybe if we get our strength up." "What? What then?" Melinda burst out, startling her sisters and cousins. "We'll be imprisoned on a full stomach? Face it, Penelope. We're all useless, until our parents find us and bust us out. Then, I'm going to take a lot of pleasure carving her eyes out with a dull and rusty spoon!" "This isn't like you, Mel," Katrina said slowly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'll just be all sweetness and light while we're imprisoned, while we're sitting here waiting for them to sacrifice us! Will that make everyone feel better!?" "Calm down Mel," a new voice said, and Melinda looked behind her to see her brother Erick orbing in behind her, his clothes wrinkled and his blond hair messed up. He smiled. "Otherwise, I won't break you out of here." 


	6. Distance from the others

Disclaimer. I Do Not Own Them! I wish those lawyers would get off my back! God, you stalk Brian Krause one time.  
  
June 10, 2020 7:33 AM 1 day, 16 hours, 27 minutes until the apocalypse. "Erick!" Melinda said with relief. "How did you know where to find us?" "From Darryl, actually," Erick said as he pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "He saw where the tear in reality was because he was called to protect an innocent in the area. It was pure luck when he saw those demons bring you in here. I got to him before he could tell mother and father, so I sent him to get them and Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Cole and Aunt Paige while I came to get you." The young white lighter held the paper up and laid one hand on the chains. "Ancient gadget, rust and rumble, I use this spell to make you crumble. Scatter through time, leave no trace, all signs of this artifact erase." The chains and manacles instantly vaporized. "Whew!" Melinda said, rubbing her wrists. "That's much better." In a second, all of the children were free. "Let's get out of here!" Prue said. She closed her eyes and dissolved into blue orbs, but the orbs stayed in place. After a second, Prue reappeared. "I can't orb out," she said. Erick nodded. "You can't teleport out of this dimension," he said. "You have to go through the front gate. He took Penelope's hand and orbed out. Melinda and Prue looked at each other and shrugged, then orbed also. Katrina smoked out. Aaron took Patty's hand and shimmered out after everyone else. Just as the last witch left, the door to the room banged open, and Antigone stormed in. "All right brats." she trailed off when she saw the lack of chains and, more importantly witches. Then she turned around and let out a piercing scream.  
  
The young witches reappeared in their own unique ways in a small room. The shriek from Antigone echoed throughout the dimension, and they all put their hands over their ears. "The tear!" Erick shouted, shoving Penelope into the wall. The wall wavered, and for a brief instant, the form of a door appeared. Then the wall was back in place and Penelope was gone. "Hurry!" One by one, the witches all leapt through the wall. The witches landed on the very end of a pier somewhere in San Francisco just as Leo orbed in with Piper, Cole faded in with Phoebe, Darryl and Paige orbed in, and the demon from the manor shimmered. The scream echoed even beyond the tear in reality. "It's Antigone!" Katrina yelled, looking over her shoulder. "She found us missing!" "Vindiro!" the demon yelled, raising his hands. The air at the edge of the dock shimmered a peculiar orange. "It's a demonic binding spell. It will hold the door closed briefly. We should retreat to your home." "Who's he?" Aaron asked his mother. "Curser. Demon. Wants to help save the world. Long story. Gotta go!" Phoebe said hurriedly. The group teleported out once again.  
  
  
  
Antigone ran toward the door to San Francisco, flanked by Ohler on her right and Proplexa on her left. "Pathetic children, thinking they can outrun me," she snarled. She walked into the wall where the door was supposed to be, only to crash into it and fall backwards. "What the bloody hell?" "It's a binding spell, Antigone," Proplexa rasped. "It's really no problem." She held out both hands, and Fury smoke blew in a torrent from her palms, pushing against the wall. The orange light shattered, depositing the three demons on the pier. "No witch created that," Ohler said. "It had to be a demon. A full blooded demon." "One more reason to rejoice when the world ends. Come on, let's get to the Halliwell Manor so we can kill the meddling idiots that released them and take the five young ones back once and for all."  
  
  
  
But the Charmed Ones and their family weren't at the manor. They weren't stupid, and they knew that was the first place Antigone would look for them. Instead, they had taken the Unholy Tome and teleported to a nearby park to regroup. "I think I figured something out," Paige said, reading the book. "The members of the Council all derive energy and power from each other. According to the book, 'their defense against all magics depend on their very solidarity.' If we can get them, one at a time, out of close proximity from each other, then a good old Power of Three spell should take care of them." Cole shook his head. "The only problem with that is, the Council members don't have summoning spells, and they know that their existence depends on their being close. It's going to be almost impossible to separate them." "No problem," Paige said. She took a pen from her pocket and scribbled something on a page in the book, then showed it to Piper and Phoebe. They both nodded and the three sisters joined hands. "Triclops," Paige called. The three-eyed psychic demon orbed in. "What the." he said, looking around. "Where." He looked at the sisters. "You!." The Charmed Ones burst into the vanquishing spell Paige had written; "Psychic demon with triple sight, Feel the Power of the Charmed Ones might, Vanquished are thee By the Power of Three To your dark being, we bring the light!" Triclops screamed as his third eye glowed with a bright blue light. Slowly the light grew until everyone had to look away. When the light faded, and they looked back, Triclops was gone. "Well, that's a first," Curser said. "A limerick?" Leo asked, one eyebrow raised. Paige shrugged. "Can we try, mommy?" Penelope asked, looking at Piper. "Well. all right, honey, but be careful," Piper said reluctantly. Penelope clapped her hands and grabbed the Unholy Tome. She quickly wrote something on a different page, then held the book up to her aunt. Paige smiled and nodded, and Penelope took the book back and stood between her sisters. "Azmir!" Paige called. The warlock orbed in, looking around wildly. "What the hell!" he shouted. The three younger Charmed Ones giggled as they read Penelope's vanquishing spell. "Thief of powers, lord of lies, turn you now to butterflies!" Azmir screamed as his body dissolved into small black particles. Then, with a flourish, the black particles became thousands of butterflies, spreading their colorful wings and flying away. "Don't EVER mess with a thirteen-year-old Charmed One," Melinda chuckled.  
  
  
  
Ohler closed his eyes in the front hall of the Halliwell Manor as Antigone and Proplexa looked at him. "I sense their magic," he muttered. "They vanquished Azmir and Triclops." Antigone growled, her eyes turning red. "Deal with them," she snapped at her two underlings. "I have to finish up here first." Ohler and Proplexa bowed before shimmering and smoking out. Antigone smiled, holding out her hand. A cluster of fire-orbs appeared twisting in her hand. She flung her hand out, and the fire-orbs flew through the house, setting fire to everything they touched.  
  
  
  
"Who's next?" Cole asked as he looked down at the tome. "Demonia? Ohler?" "Proplexa," the Fury snarled as she smoked in behind Cole. She summoned an arrow into her hand and drove it through Cole's back. "Dad!" Katrina screamed. She levitated and flung herself toward the Fury, striking her in the face with her boot. Ohler shimmered in and grabbed Penelope, summoned an athame into his hand, and held it to her throat. "Stay back!" he said to the group. "Stop fighting! Or this little baby chicken becomes a boneless, skinless chicken." Cole wrinkled his nose as he summoned a fire bolt in his hand. "Hiding behind a little girl?" he said contemptuously. "That's pathetic, Ohler." "And fighting alongside them is, Belthazor?" Ohler smirked. Phoebe closed her eyes, trying to remember a spell from the Book of Shadows. She squinted really hard, and chanted it - backwards. "!erif nwo ruoy fo demusnoc eb, eryp cigam eth won ew thgil, esruc siht morf yltaerg reffus, esrow dna nem fo egruocs amahrA" There was a flash of light next to her, and her bodyguard vanquished eighteen years earlier, Arhama, appeared. 


End file.
